This love
by Euphoria123
Summary: It's not so much about finding Mr. Right as it is about deciding whether or not the other one is worth the effort.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's notes:**

** Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to the wonderful J.K. Rowling**

** This is obviously fanfiction which means that there will be things in there that are AU and characters might act OOC in your opinion, so beware ;)**

** This first chapter is a prologue, the actual story will start with the next chapter.**

** I wish you a pleasant reading **

* * *

**Prologue – past lovers**

**Part one: Hermione**

David Ford, was the name of Hermione's childhood sweetheart. They had known each other since they were toddlers and played in the sandbox. They went to kindergarten together and later to elementary school. David was Hermione's only friend back then and he always protected her when the other children made fun of her.

He was her polar opposite and it was thanks to him that Hermione didn't spent the first 11 years of her life locked up in her room with a book under her nose.

He loved to explore and armed with his blooming imagination they went on treasure hunts in the small forest not far away from their houses or they walked through hostile territory (the garden of Mrs Snyder an elderly neighbour who hated children) in order to rescue Mr. Snuggles (a cat that roamed the neighbourhood and also disliked children) who had been held hostage there.

One day they were pirates, the next explorers and on the third the rulers of the world.

It was with a heavy heart that they parted when Hermione left for Hogwarts, they promised each other to write daily (they kept it going for almost 6 months after all) and to never forget each other. Hermione bravely kissed him goodbye on the cheek.

He was imaginative, sweet, clever and her first friend.

When she came back for the summer holidays they realized with regret that they had already estranged themselves from each other.

-O-O-O-

Gilderoy Lockhart was Hermione's second crush. He was charming, handsome and at least seemed to be brave and clever.

His enthusiasm and charming smile had been her undoing. He was everything she was looking for in a man intelligent, strong, brave and handsome.

If you asked her today she would deny to ever have fallen for him. From this experience however she learned that words and a handsome face can be deceiving sometimes.

-O-O-O-

She shared her first proper kiss with Victor. He was the first one who made her feel desired. Deep down inside, it made her proud that a boy who was a famous Quidditch star and three years her senior was in love with her. She enjoyed how he made her feel.

He was courteous, tender and he simply adored her. It broke her heart when she had to tell him that she didn't feel as strongly about him as he did about her.

-O-O-O-

Soon after that it became clear that Ron liked her more than just a friend. Over time the idea of her and Ron together seemed like a good one and she had talked herself into a crush.

He was her rock when they were on the run that is why she felt as if the rug had been pulled out from under her when he abandoned them.

After the battle and a kiss that was born from desperation and hope they both realized they were better of as friends. He was brave, funny, honest, at times inconsiderate and completely daft – and being with him felt completely wrong.

-O-O-O-

As soon as possible Hermione went to Australia, to find her parents but also to get away from everything. Harry, Ginny, Ron and George came with her.

Her parents were not happy when they found out what happened, but little by little they learned to forgive her, it took them long, however, to trust her again. It helped though, that Hermione spent more time now with them.

And still they had seen what their daughter was capable of and how defenceless they were in comparison. The magic world was one that fascinated them but one they would never truly understand and one that, if they were honest with themselves had estranged them already a long time ago from their only daughter.

-O-O-O-

She went back to Hogwarts to finish her NEWTS. But after that she wasn't quite sure what to do with her life. There were so many interesting and tempting careers.

After several career counselling sessions with Professor McGonagall and Mr Weasley, and after writing several pro and con lists, drawing up hierarchies about what was most important to her, and after studying each and every career that was available, she decided to study magical law.

This way, she could help those who were suppressed by society (especially the house elves whether they wanted her help or not).

-O-O-O-

During her first semester at university she met Brian White. He was just as idealistic and passionate about making the world a little more just as she was herself.

So from study partners they went on and became lovers. Brian was Hermione's first lover and their romance last until her fifth semester. That's when they had to realize that besides a great sense of justice they didn't have much in common.

He was charismatic, outgoing, ambitious, arrogant – and she felt a strange mixture of sadness and relief when they broke up.

-O-O-O-

Towards the end of her studies she decided to spend a semester in Spain. She expected people to be more temperamental than what she was used to, what she didn't expect was the attention she got from the Spanish males. It was new, exciting and flattering.

She fell head over heels for Antonio, her young tutor in Spanish. She had never felt such passion and she had never dared to be this uninhibited before.

Their affair was intense, passionate and short. After she went back to England they tried a long distance relationship but soon they were both caught up in their daily routine and had to realize that without the physical aspects there was not much left in their relationship.

-O-O-O-

Her first job after she finished her studies was at the Ministry's Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She started working there full of idealistic ideas and enthusiasm.

At the side she worked on her pet project the welfare of the house elves (an issue that divided her co-workers, some thought it was useless and that they enjoyed their enslavement, other's thought she wanted too much in too little time, some thought she was simply eccentric and very few agreed with her on the issue).

Part of her job was also research. She had a lot to learn about magical creatures and often she felt appalled when reading about previous sentences and treatment of them.

It was during one of those research sessions that she met the Unspeakable Alexander Bishop who did research for his top secret mission.

Soon she was enthralled by his intelligence and maturity. He was 25 years older than her and introduced her to expensive red wine and French cuisine. They went to the theatre and to readings together and she absorbed every word he said like a sponge.

After the first phase of infatuation and novelty was over they realized that due to their age difference they were in totally different stages of their life and had different ambitions, dreams and needs.

So after a year they broke up in mutual agreement.

-O-O-O-

Hermione was 27 years old now. Most of her friends were married some even had children already. She couldn't help but feel the sting of jealousy sometimes when she saw the happy couples.

She was still young and she was in no hurry, but she felt that she was more than ready for Mr. Right.

* * *

**Part two: Bill**

Annie Cavanagh was a little muggle girl that Bill and Charlie used to play with before they went to Hogwarts. She came from the village close by the Burrow. She taught them how to ride a bike and play with other peculiar muggle toys.

Back then Bill thought that she was the sweetest girl he had ever seen, with her long blonde hair, her freckles and the dimples in her cheeks when she smiled. She was wild, daring, always good humoured and Bill thought he would marry her one day.

When he had to say goodbye to leave for Hogwarts he gave her a short peck on the cheek. She caught him by surprise when she pressed her lips firmly against his. The moment was ruined, however, when Charlie fell out of a nearby bush making sounds of utter disgust.

When he came back from Hogwarts after his first year he found out that she had moved away with her parents. Even today Bill asks himself from time to time where she lived now and what she was doing and if she still remembered him.

-O-O-O-

During his first four years at Hogwarts Bill was not very popular with the Ladies, only when it came to help them out with schoolwork. He was too serious, too studious, too lanky, simply too uncool. Unlike him his brother Charlie who was easygoing and played Quidditch… successfully, hence he was the epitome of coolness. He had girls following him around in packs giggling and blushing whenever he would just look in their general direction.

During the summer holidays after his fourth year Bill's father seemed to sense his distress. One evening while he was up in his room reading, he came to him with a book in his hand.

"This helped me out a lot when I was your age," his father said handing him the book.

He read the title _How to successfully woo witches_. He looked up at his Dad with a surprised expression on his face.

His Dad just chuckled and said: "Maybe you should spend more time outside with your siblings and play Quidditch and things like that, you used to enjoy the outdoors a lot."

He took his father's advice to heart and started to spend more time outside with his siblings. All the activity had the good side effect that he started to build up some muscles. In the evenings he studied the book his Dad had given to him. It helped him to understand the female species a lot better.

So feeling better in his own skin and armed with valuable knowledge about girls and a prefect badge pinned to his chest he started his fifth year full of confidence.

It didn't take the girls long to notice the differences in him and soon he was dating Lisa Roberts a fellow Gryffindor in his year.

She was daring, cheeky, fun loving and downright beautiful - and she knew it. Together they had their first, slightly awkward but nevertheless exciting physical contacts with the opposite sex.

Soon her temper started to grate on his nerves and he was glad when she told him that she thought they should break up to go out with other people.

His next girlfriend was Catherine Thompson, she was a Hufflepuff and even a year older than he was.

She was sweet, caring and also remarkably pretty. They dated for several months and soon Bill got bored of her. She was just too sweet and too submissive for his taste. It seemed that he had gone for the total opposite of Lisa.

He desperately tried to think of a way to break up with her in a nice way, if something like that is even possible. Of course Catherine felt that something was wrong and confronted him about it. After awkward stutters and lame explanations and excuses from his side and many tears from hers, they went separate ways. Even weeks after the breakup, he still felt like a jerk.

-O-O-O-

He was very proud when he was made head boy and decided to make the best out of his last year at Hogwarts.

He studied and partied hard. And he found a new girlfriend. Miranda Jackman. A 6th year Ravenclaw prefect. She was intelligent, witty, calm and also very beautiful.

He lost his virginity to her in an empty classroom when they were supposed to be doing rounds. They were considered the perfect couple, but after Bill left Hogwarts their relationship ended more or less naturally.

He had given a lot of thought to what he wanted to do for a living. He carefully studied the different brochures they had received and made priority lists about what was important to him.

Finally he decided that curse breaker would be something he might enjoy. He would be able to travel, it was adventurous and he could use his brain but at the same time it was also quite physical work, yes this job should suit his strengths. And the payment was also considerable.

Soon after he started the apprenticeship, he knew that he had made the right decisions. Also his colleagues had to admit, some more some less envious that he was born for this job.

The next few years were filled with adventure, travel and beautiful women. He'd been with sweet and vivacious girls from Mexico, exotic and graceful women from China and mysterious and passionate women from Egypt.

He lived freely from one day to the next, never committing himself to anyone. That was until he decided to get a desk job in London to be with his family and fight in the war. It was there that he met her.

-O-O-O-

Fleur. Yes she was the most beautiful and delicate flower. He fell for her the first time he saw her and he couldn't believe how lucky he was when she agreed to go on a date with him.

From there everything progressed fast, they spent passionate nights their bodies entangled making oaths of love. Soon they talked about a future together and he proposed.

He had cooked dinner for her and after they had moved from the dining area to the couch he went down on his knee in front of her embracing her slender form with his strong arms and asked her to be his wife. She answered by throwing her arms around him and kissing him long and hard. They spent the rest of the night making love.

Fleur stood by him even though his family, or to be more exact the women of his family refused to accept her, she stood by him after he got attacked by Greyback and was scarred for life, he really thought they would last.

She was strong-willed, proud, loving, capricious and breathtakingly beautiful. He still couldn't believe his luck.

That was until two nights before the wedding she told him that she couldn't go through with it. She loved him but she was too scared to bind herself to someone for the rest of her live. She found she wasn't ready yet to be a wife and mother.

Rationally he knew it was better that she came to this conclusion before and not after the wedding but his insides felt as if his heart had shuttered into a thousand pieces that got stuck inside his skin and organs.

He doubted that he could ever open his heart again and love a woman the way he had loved Fleur.

-O-O-O-

The war kept his mind off of his pain. But after the war was won, grief about the loss of Fleur and all those people who had lost their live fighting, including his own brother, overcame him.

He fled, he couldn't stay. He busied himself with work and after a while he started dating beautiful and sensual women again, he never gave his heart to one of them.


	2. Chapter 2

**The accident**

Bill has worked as a curse breaker for many years. He was specialised in ancient curses and cultures that perished the earth long ago. During the years he had learned some rather painful lessons.

By now he was one of the best curse breakers worldwide, he wasn't afraid to take a risk, without rushing headless into a possibly dangerous situation, had a good intuition, was able to stay calm when things seemed to get out of hand and maybe most importantly he prepared for every new assignment diligently.

For his current task Gringotts had sent him to China and together with a team of Chinese scholars and curse breakers he tried to open a tomb from the Han Dynasty. It has been very resilient so far, there were many different traps that went from making them go in circles to possibly lethal.

They have been working on it for almost a month and hadn't been able to remove more than the first layer of curses. Everybody started to get slightly frustrated.

Bill knew how important it was to stay focused and careful and not try to force anything, many beginners started to become negligently about safety measures and tried too forceful to break through the curses when their first attempts at entering somewhere had been futile. He had seen and heard about quite a lot of tragic accidents that happened because of impatience and subsequent carelessness.

As always Bill had carefully cast several curse revealing spells that had been negative before entering one of the anterooms to the grave-chamber. Immediately upon entering he knew something was wrong, but before he was able to warn the others or just make the slightest move he and the two wizards who had been with him where hit with an old curse and darkness surrounded them.

He woke up in a hospital to the sounds of his mother's sobs and a Chinese healer trying to explain to her in his broken English what had happened to him.

When they realized that he was awake, the healer started to cast several diagnostic spells on him and poured various potions down his throat, while his mother grabbed his hand and kept crying and calling him her baby boy.

Bill tried to move but except for his eyelids he was unable to move any parts of his body. Panic started to rise up in him and it must have shown in his eyes, for the healer started to explain to him the condition he was in.

Apparently the curse was destined to degenerate the muscles in his body rapidly. Without treatment he would have died within 30 minutes, when given the proper treatment the chances of complete recovery were nearly a 100%. Luckily the other members of the team that had been right behind them had acted immediately and leviated them out of the chamber and apparated them to the hospital straight away.

They had also immediately informed his family about the accident and his mother took the next international portkey to be with her son.

The only bad news was that the recovery would take around three months. He should be able to move his body after a few weeks, but the heart's recovery took the longest and in this weakened state he was to rest. After his heart was stronger again he would have to start training to strengthen his whole body to get back to his old form.

Bill had a hard time to cope with the fact that he would be pretty much an invalid for the next months.

He had to stay in the hospital in China for a week before he was declared stable enough to be moved to St Mungos.

Even though Bill loved his mother dearly, after being coddled by her for only a week he already started fearing for his mental health. His only hope was that other members of his family would keep her busy, and that her excessive fanning over him had more to do with the fact that she didn't have anyone else to dote on in China.

When he arrived in St Mungos his whole family including brothers and sisters in law, nephews and nieces and Hermione Granger were already waiting for him. While the others smothered him nearly to death, Hermione stood a little further back, smiling warmly at him.

-O-O-O-

Hermione had been scribbling furiously on a draft for a new law on houself rights when she got the message, that Bill Weasley had been severely injured.

She left immediately to be with the Weasleys and see if there was anything she could do to help them out.

Molly wanted to be with her "baby" so Hermione organized the international portkey for her.

She made tea and took care of the little ones and soothed many agitated nerves for the rest of the week.

When he finally arrived back in London, she stood back since she had never been close to him while the rest of the family nearly smothered him to death.

He would have to stay at the hospital for three more weeks, but his family made sure he didn't start feeling lonely. At first Hermione only visited him together with Ron or Ginny, but after a while she also dropped by on her own after work.

She brought him magazines and books and sometimes they would discuss an article. Mostly they talked about their jobs. Hermione learned that curse breaker was a quite fascinating job and that he was good at telling stories. He on the other hand sympathized with her fight against the ignorance of witches and wizards when it came to the rights of magical creatures. He had to admit that some of the cruel treatment and sentences made his blood curl.

Bill's condition got better and better quickly and soon he was allowed to leave the bed for a few hours every day. He had to be very careful still to not overexert himself.

He was released from hospital and even though he was happy to leave that place he was not happy to move back in with his parents and have his mother around him every minute of the next two months.

It wasn't that bad though since his mother had to divide her attention between him and her grandchildren that she babysat.

All in all he enjoyed having his family around him, he didn't feel suffocated by them anymore like he did after Fleur had left him and Fred had died. He had thrown himself into work after that and neglected his family.

But with his family around and nothing to keep himself distracted he had to face the loss of his brother and finally deal with it. He had long talks about it in particular with his father and George, it was painful but also liberating. He had supressed the pain for so long that when he finally let it out it almost overwhelmed him but after that he finally started healing.

His siblings continued to visit him on a nearly daily bases. Also Hermione continued to drop by regularly.

Hermione soon learned that it was all too easy to fall for Bill Weasley. He was charming, intelligent, witty and still handsome even with his faded scars.

She began to look forward to visiting him, it became the highlight of her day. Soon she began to take a little more care with her appearance before she met him, she was by no means a vain person but who doesn't want to look his or her best for the person he or she crushes on.

She tried to be subtle about her feelings, only a slight touch here a small smile there, she wanted to test out the waters before being more forward.

Bill began to genuinely like Hermione and he started to look forward to her visits. She knew what she wanted and she fought for it, she was with both feet on the ground, she was incredibly intelligent, very perceptive, kind and caring, her humour was dry and she was beautiful in her own way. Though not a raving beauty like the women he usually spend the night with.

He noticed that she sometimes was quite bossy with Ron and Harry and could seem a little snotty when she felt insecure.

Bill respected her and thought of her as a friend, he wouldn't be opposed to a casual affair after he recovered, but he had learned about Hermione that she usually wasn't one for casual affairs, she was the kind of girl that wanted a serious relationship and if there was one thing that Bill still wasn't ready for it was a serious relationship.

He knew though that she probably felt more for him than just friendship. He saw the way she smiled at him and how she would blush whenever he complimented or touched her. He tried not to encourage her but other than that decided to ignore it and hope that it would just pass.

Bill recovered quickly and after two and a half months he was declared healed and able to start his training to strengthen his muscles.

The time had passed by faster than he thought it would in the beginning but he was glad to be finally able to leave the house again and actually do something.

-O-O-O-

Hermione still dropped by often in the evening and if he wasn't too exhausted they would go for a small walk.

He felt very comfortable around her, he could just be himself and didn't have to try hard to be especially witty or clever or play any of those silly games that women and men play.

Also Hermione felt very comfortable around him, he didn't seem to be intimidated by her sharp mind like so many other men were and he was interested in what she had to say.

He didn't seem interested in her in a romantic way and that saddened her, but she appreciated the beautiful friendship that had developed between them.

They had started out by talking about articles from magazines then their jobs and finally their talks had become more and more personal, there was one topic though that Hermione was really curious about but Bill refused to talk about – Fleur.

-O-O-O-

Soon Bill was as good as new and able to go back to work. He still had to take it easy though, so he now was assigned to train the new curse-breakers. To be honest Bill didn't like this job very much, he preferred working in the field and it seemed to him that most of the curse-breakers in training were a little slow on the uptake.

The thought that kept him going was that this was only temporary and then he would be back to travelling around the world looking for treasures.

To not get totally out of shape and challenge himself a little he examined artifacts that private clients would bring to him.

-O-O-O-

It was no surprise to anyone in the family when Ron announced his engagement to Susan Bones. They had met again two years prior at a function from the Ministry and hit it off.

Bill found it kind of ironic that it was only him and Charlie without a spouse. He tried to be happy for his brother but couldn't help but feel a sting at seeing all his younger siblings happily in love with their respective partners, most of them even had children already.

He loved his nephews and nieces, but he felt a void inside him that was what he wanted as well, a wife and children. But when Fleur had walked out of his life she had taken that dream with her.

During the course of the evening he and Charlie ended up in a corner by themselves with a bottle of Firewhiskey.

"So tell me Charlie old mate," Bill slurred slightly, "how come you're not married yet?"

"Guess I haven't found the right one so far," Charlie sighed deeply.

"What none of the burly female Dragon keepers caught your fancy?" Bill joked.

Charlie only chuckled into his glass. "Well you're also still alone mate."

"Yep, I love them and leave them", Bill declared.

"Still not over her?" Charlie said knowingly.

Bill slammed his glass on the table, "let's not talk about her," his voice broke.

It pained Charlie to see Bill like this and he didn't think his brother's obsession with that French woman was healthy at all, why he still pined after her after all this years was beyond him. He couldn't understand why Bill just wouldn't let go and move on. But he kept his opinion to himself, he knew Bill wouldn't appreciate it.

They sat for a few minutes in silent before they were joined by a slightly tipsy Hermione Granger.

"Mind if I join you?" She hiccupped.

"Not at all, dearest," Bill winked at her.

Charlie mostly observed the two teasing each other, only occasionally joining in. He hoped Bill wouldn't do anything stupid but on the other hand he hoped that maybe Hermione was the woman who could make him forget about Fleur.

He left the two to their own devices after a while and went to bed

-O-O-O-

Bill woke up when something was tickling his nose. He felt a body pressed close to him and a soft hand caressing his chest. When he slowly became more conscious he realised that what had been tickling him was a strand of brown hair.

He froze when the woman lift her head and gave him a brilliant smile.

He had made a huge mistake.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Sorry for the long absence. I had my finals and they kept me quite busy.**

**So a quick reminder what happened: Hermione and Bill have just spend a drunken night together, and Bill realised he made a mistake.**

_Old Wounds_

"Good morning," Hermione smiled at him.

He felt her soft naked body pressed to his and knew he had to get out of there.

"Morning", he rasped turning to get up, "bathroom", he said upon her confused face.

Hermione only nodded wrapping the sheets around her.

_Oh no, no, no_, he thought to himself, _what am I gonna say to her?_

He splashed water into his face to win some time. Slowly he returned to his room.

Hermione was still laying in his bed with the sheets wrapped around her, she half got up when he came back and stretched her hands out towards him.

"Hermione", he cleared his throat, "we need to talk."

Her face fell his cold demeanor and the tone of his voice let her know that she wouldn't like what he had to say.

"You see, I'm sorry for last night, that…that shouldn't have happened", Bill couldn't look her in the eye. "You see I care greatly for you as a friend but I am not…I don't want", he stopped, he didn't know what to say, then he tried again. "Look, you're an amazing woman…"

Hermione held her hand up to stop him from saying anything else. She looked away but he saw the tears in her eyes that she refused to spill just yet.

"Stop explaining, I understand", her voice sounded raw and was almost breaking.

He wasn't sure that she really understood but stopped talking.

She got out of bed and quickly put her clothes back on then without looking at him or saying anything else she apparated away.

Bill sighed deeply he felt like, no he knew he was a complete jerk and now he had ruined a wonderful friendship and hurt an amazing woman he deeply cared about.

-O-O-O-

Hermione apparated to her flat. She felt numb. She took a shower and put on some fresh clothes as if she were on autopilot, then she sat down and the reality of what had happened hit her.

She wanted to cry, she wanted to run, she decided she needed to get out of there. She grabbed a few things and apparated straight into her cousins flat.

Her cousin who was just about to have breakfast almost fell out of her chair when Hermione materialized in her living room with a loud pop.

"Oh my, Hermione don't do that you'll give me a heart attack…what's wrong?" She asked concerned after seeing Hermione's expression.

"Oh Catherine," Hermione cried and flung herself in the arms of her surprised cousin. Her cousin let her to the couch, where Hermione began telling her the whole story in between sobs.

Hermione and Catherine had practically grown up together. Catherine was only a year older than Hermione was. However, after Hermione had received her letter from Hogwarts they barely saw each other. It was only after the final battle that Hermione realised how completely estranged she was from her family and how much she actually missed them.

It took a while for her parents to forgive her for changing their memories and sending them to Australia. But many open talks had helped them all mending their relationship. Hermione had made sure to include her family more in her life and visited them regularly.

At her grandmother's birthday she had met Catherine again, at first it felt as if they were strangers but soon they're relationship was almost as close as it had been before Hermione went to Hogwarts.

Hermione trusted her cousin and even told her that she was a witch. At first Catherine thought Hermione was joking and then something between confused, impressed and amazed, even now she still couldn't quite wrap her mind around the concept of magic.

So now Catherine held her sobbing cousin in her arms and listened to her story of how she fell for this guy, spent a wonderful night with him, thought he liked her back only to have him tell her that it was all a mistake.

Hermione felt hurt and foolish.

"O.K.", Catherine said, "I'll give you this day to wallow, we gonna eat sugary and greasy food and watch some really bad movies. Tomorrow we'll drive to my parent's cottage at the sea and have a few days all to ourselves were we relax and have some fun."

"But I have to go to work", Hermione sniffled.

"Just take a few days off," was Catherine's pragmatic answer.

So the next day Hermione and her cousin squeezed themselves and their luggage into Catherine's tiny car and went south.

The area were the cottage was was beautiful. After arriving they immediately went for a walk at the beach. It made Hermione think that she should go on vacation or at least short trips like that more often.

When Hermione got back to London she felt a lot better already and dived into her work with new enthusiasm. She decided, however that it might be a good idea to avoid Bill and the Bureau for some time.

-O-O-O-

Bill was relieved on one hand that Hermione seemed to avoid him, he didn't know how he should act around her, but at the other hand he missed their friendship terribly, he hadn't realized until then actually how important she had become to him.

_Well should have thought of that before you slept with her_, he berated himself.

Only Charlie knew what had happened and had smacked him quite soundly over the head, it hadn't helped though the harm was already done.

His work started to annoy him greatly, the curse breakers in training seemed to reach new hights in incompetence and his patience was very low. So he was very glad when he received the task to go to Paris and examine some supposedly dark artefacts from a private client.

After Bill arrived in Paris he was greeted by a very enthusiastic and very small man with a huge moustache.

"Ah, bonjour Monsieur Weezy. I am Monsier Moineau." The little man said with a surprisingly deep voice.

"Bonjour", Bill mumbled a little embarrassed, his french was not the best.

"I'll bring you to your 'otel and after you got settled in, I'll show you my 'ome that iz were the artefacts are." Monsieur Moineau explained to Bill.

On the way to the hotel Moineau told Bill that he had inherited a mansion from a distant relative of his and that it seems that said relative liked to experiment and didn't shy back from the dark arts. Which also were his doom, since he died when a rather nasty curse backfired.

Later Bill examined the artefacts, most of them only had minor easily breakable curses and hexes on them, only two or three turned out to take a little more time and skill. He would take care of them the following day and if necessary also the day after that.

That evening when he returned to the hotel, he heard a very familiar voice talking rapidly in french, that voice belonged to a woman with very familiar beautiful long blonde hair.

"Fleur", He said, louder than he had intended because she turned around and looked at him.

"Bill iz zat you?" She asked looking at him in surprise.

Before knowing what he was doing, he invited her to dinner and she readily agreed.

She told him over supper that she was in an on off relationship with Claude Delon a french singer and currently they were off. But she expected him to come crawling back to her asking for forgiveness for whatever offense it was he had comitted towards her in her eyes.

She worked for a french women's magazine and enjoyed that immensely.

He didn't talk a lot about himself and she didn't ask.

She was still as beautiful and charming as she had been all those years ago.

They spent the night together in his hotel room and when he woke up the next morning she was already gone. Bill didn't have much time to think about what had happened, since he had to get ready to meet Monsieur Moineau.

He spent the next four evenings and nights with Fleur. After that he came to the realisation that there existed two Fleurs the one in his mind that was larger than life and the real one. While both were incredibly beautiful, charming (the real one at least when she chose to be) and witty, the Fleur in his mind was also a lot more down to earth, caring and less vain and arrogant than the real one. He still enjoyed the passionate physical part of their relationship though. But after those 4 nights, he had to get back to England for a final medical check up to see if he could go back to working in the field.

They decided to leave their fling at that and Bill went back home feeling like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He finally started to move on. However, the image of another woman kept creeping up from time to time – Hermione- he squashed them as soon as they would come up. He had royally screwed that one up.

The healer declared him fully healed and his next assignment was Greece. So once more he went back to his old adventurous and slightly lonley lifestyle of work and beautiful women. But now he was looking for a woman to settle down with which is why now he went on second and third dates with some of the women and with one he even had an affair that lasted a few months.

It was on his 38 birthday, that he spent alone only with letters from his family and a bottle of Odgen's finest that it hit him…


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: The Gilmore Girls fans amongst you will maybe think that the title to this chapter sounds somewhat familiar. I have to admit that I stole a little idea from there. However, I do neither own Gilmore Girls nor Harry Potter...and don't worry this won't turn into a cross over.**

* * *

**Chapter 3 Bill can see her face**

After Bill had left Hermione visited the Bureau more frequently again. She never spoke to anyone about what had happened between her and Bill, besides her Cousin.

As they say time is a healer and work a great distraction the pain soon decreased until all that was left was some small resentment.

Her work profited from her single status and she got promoted twice within a year. And yet she still found the time to translate "The tales of Beetle the Bard" and some other less known works from ancient runes into modern day English. If asked she would say this is what she did to relax (just like Percy recalculated his old tax returns to wind down after a stressful day at work).

Her friends, however, felt that they should help her find a suitable mate and so attempted the art of matchmaking with rather little success. They would invite her and another single male relative, friend or acquaintance. With some of them she even went on a date, with three she went on a second date and one actually made it into her bed. But the affair didn't last long.

Hermione was curled up on her sofa with a cup of tea and a book for some light reading, on a rainy November evening, when an owl tapped at her window. She didn't recognise who the bird belonged to and only when she opened the letter, did she see that it came from Bill. That was rather unexpected...

-O-O-O-

So it was his birthday and Bill was sitting all alone in his hotel room. He had cut his date with the sensual Italian woman short, preferring to be on his own. On his own now he was confronted with his thoughts. His family had sent him some presents it was Charlie's that caught his interest.

It was a selfhelp book. Attached was a note from his brother: _Hey mate, it didn't actually do anything for me but maybe you'll have more luck, can't hurt give it a try. Wish you a very happy birthday. Show your ugly face for Christmas, we miss you. Charlie._

He picked up the book and inspected it further. "How to find the perfect woman: a guide to true love for men" He scoffed at that, as if he needed help. _Well you haven't been awfully successful_ a little voice piped up in his head.

So he opened the book to chapter one which was called "Expectations" he started reading:

_First we have to get rid of the ideas about how relationships should be that we got from fairy tales, love songs and romance novels. We have unrealistic expectations in regards to our relationships and partners. We expect our partners to be perfect and our relationships to be easy and full of roses and strawberries with cream. The truth is nobody is perfect, you will have to learn to deal with your partner's annoying habits and your partner with yours. You will fight you will make up, you will have to compromise. What you have to ask yourself is, is that person worth the effort?..._

_Yadda, yadda, yadda_ thought Bill, he knew as much from his parent's relationship already, so he kept browsing through the book until a chapter called "Can you see her face" caught his interest.

_If you are in doubt whether you should give a relationship with a certain woman a try, or you feel attracted to several women and can't make up your mind then here are a few helpful questions. Close your eyes for a few moments after every question and wait to see whose face comes up before your inner eye._

_If something particularly good happened to you, who would you want to share it with? Can you see her face?_

_Well_ thought Bill_, I guess I would like to share it with my family and perhaps some close friends_. But he dutifully closed his eyes.

_If something bad happened to you and you felt sad, lonely, or got ill, or were in pain who would you like to take care of you? Can you see her face?_

_Whose floo calls, letters or visits are never unwelcome or too long? Can you see her face?_

_If you were to go to a party or travelling who would make this experience even more enjoyable? Can you see her face?_

_If you had only 24 hours left to live, who would you want to spend them with? Can you see her face?_

_Whoa, _Bill thought. He hadn't expected that it would be Hermione's face that he would see. But shortly after this revelation he started to feel bad. He had hurt her. Whenever he saw her at the Bureau, which wasn't often, she would greet him coldly and then ignore him for the rest of the time. He hadn't dared to bring up the subject again. Maybe it was time for an apology and explanation. _Well it is a little late for that don't you think_? the voice in his mind said. _Better late than never, _he thought_, he had to try, she couldn't say more than sorry not interested_. It would crush him but he could move on then, and there was also the possibility, however slim, that she might give him another chance.

So he decided to write a letter to her. It took him several hours and roughly 50 pages of parchment but then it was ready and he sent it immediately before he could start to overthink it and change his mind again.

-O-O-O-

_What can he possibly want, after one and a half years? _Hermione thought bitterly. She went back to her couch and started reading.

_Hermione,_

_I guess you must wonder why I would write to you now. You see first of all I've never explained myself or apologized properly to you for what happened. I hope it is not too late for that now. I am sincerely sorry for hurting you back then. I meant it when I said that you are an amazing woman Back then I was still fancying myself in love with Fleur. I've met her since and realized that it was not Fleur that I had been in love with but my idea of her. And still I've always kept my relationships with women casual, too scared that I might get hurt again. I've busied myself with work and women to not have to feel the pain and loneliness and fear. _

_And yet ever since I've left you, I have been thinking of you, I've tried not to and kind of succeeded until today. I've realized today that when I think about who I want to spend my happy or sad moments – my life really- with, it was your face that came up. _

_What I am trying to say, Hermione, is that I've been a real jerk and fool for not realizing before what you meant to me. I guess I wasn't ready back then. _

_It just occurred to me that I don't even know whether you are in a relationship at the moment If you are then I hope you will accept my apology and I wish you and the lucky bloke all the best. _

_If you are single – I hope this is not too much to ask- I would love to make it up to you. Maybe we could get to know each other again – maybe you would even go on a date with me?_

_Love,_

_Bill_

Hermione wasn't sure what to think. She had buried all those feelings for him – the good and the bad- somewhere deep, deep inside of her. They all assaulted her now. She remembered how she fell in love with him, his easy smile, his charm, their talks about pretty much anything, the way he made her stomach flutter and her skin tingle in a way that no other man had before or after him. The way he had made love to her, he had worshipped her whole body she had never felt that beautiful and desired before or afterwards.

The way she had gotten lost in his eyes, or when she had been stressing over something he put things back into perspective for her again.

But then she remembered the morning after, when he stood there stuttering clearly mortified thinking it all had been a mistake. It was true they were both tipsy when it had happened, he had never declared his undying love for her. But it had hurt so bad that it seemed that she had been in this alone. And then almost nothing – besides some awkward meetings in the Bureau- for one and a half year and now this. Where was this all coming from now? Did he think she was sitting around waiting for him to decide that he did want to be with her in the end? Who did he think he was? And besides why would he want her now? She was no Fleur or any of his other beautiful floozies – oh yes she had overheard some of his talks with his brothers. Or when his brothers wistfully exclaimed how lucky Bill was to always get the prettiest women. She had been hurt too, many times, she was just as scared as he was.

Resentment and fear fought against her more tender feelings but anger seemed to have the upper hand at the moment. Hermione knew better though than deciding anything when she was this upset, she would need some time to think this over before she could come to a decision.

_I should just leave him waiting_, she thought bitterly. But she felt bad doing that, so she penned a short note for him.

_Bill,_

_I don't know where this is all coming from now, but to be honest I feel too upset at the moment to make a decision. I need some time to think this over I will let you know when I've made up my mind._

_Hermione_

-O-O-O-

Bill was slightly disappointed when he read the note. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, maybe yes that she would be a little more forthcoming, but then again why should she.

So he just wrote a note that she should take her time and apologized again, that was all he could do for now.

Once more he dived into his work with fervour – minus the women this time, they just didn't hold the same allure anymore…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4 Confrontation**

It was only three days to Christmas and Bill was up to his neck in work. He had been sent on a last minute assignment to Peru. If he wanted to spend Christmas with his family he had to finish his examination of the temple and its objects soon.

He normally loved his job but now he could not get rid of this feeling of dread in his stomach because Hermione still hasn't answered him. He had suggested to meet in person, but she had just plainly refused to see him yet.

Extensive Christmas shopping was also out of the question this year. He had gotten some sculptures and jewellery made by indigenous artists as well as some culinary treats. Luckily he had relatively quickly found a store that sold tasteful things not the usual tourist stuff.

Currently he was trying to work his way through several layers of protective charms on what seemed to be a simple stone statue of some goddess or another. The question was why it was so heavily protected. Normally this would have peeked Bill's curiosity but at the moment he found it hard to concentrate on the task at hand. He had paid for his wandering mind several times over the past days, nothing severe but nevertheless quite painful at times.

He cursed when a sudden pain shot through his hand up his arm, drawing on all his willpower he pushed all thoughts on Hermione to the back of his mind and focused on the statue in front of him.

-O-O-O-

Ever since she had received Bill's letter Hermione had been on an emotional rollercoaster. She was usually a quite grounded person, patient and kind so quite a lot of people in her vicinity had been in for a nasty surprise lately.

She had lost her patience with some quivering house elves, snapped at her assistant and currently refused to speak with Harry and Ron at all.

Ginny had been sent to talk to her to find out what was going on, but she really didn't want to talk to Ginny about her brother.

Her only confidant was her cousin, and she had banned her from her apartment because she couldn't bring herself to listen to anymore of Hermione's rants. They would always go the same way. She would start out by reminiscing her short friendship with Bill, remembering all his good trades, but then she got upset, for him sleeping with her and leaving her, then going without a word for almost two years and then writing her and expecting her to be free and come running. She could go on for hours like that.

Catherine wasn't sure what to tell Hermione. She didn't know Bill and couldn't really advise Hermione one way or the other so she told her to just meet him and talk to him. Hermione would have none of that since she hadn't made up her mind yet. Catherine doubted that she ever would.

So one night one hour into Hermione's rant Catherine had interrupted her and said that she couldn't bare listening to her any longer. Hermione had left in an outrage and Catherine felt bad, but she knew it was necessary for her sanity.

It was only two days till Christmas and Hermione was currently sitting at her desk trying to come up with an excuse why not to go to the Weasley dinner the next evening. The Weasleys had started the tradition to invite almost everybody they knew for a big dinner on Christmas eve. The 25th she was going to spend with her family.

In the end Hermione decided to go and hope for the best. She knew she was a bad liar and she didn't want to disappoint Molly. Her only hope was that there would be so many people that she could avoid Bill.

-O-O-O-

Bill arrived late in the afternoon on the 24th in his childhood home. After an extensive welcome from his family he barely had time to shower and get changed. He was so nervous to meet Hermione he felt almost physically ill. He rushed back downstairs waiting close to the fireplace in hopes to intercept Hermione when she arrived to be able to talk to her before dinner.

It was against Hermione's nature to be late, so it took all of her willpower to not floo to the Bureau on time. The dinner always started later because it took forever until all the guests arrived. Hermione hoped to arrive just in time for the dinner.

Her plan seemed to work, when she arrived 15 minutes late, most were already seated at the table. Then out of nowhere Bill appeared. Before he could say anything she said surly: "Not now dinner is about to start." And walked into the dining room with lightning speed. For a moment Bill stood there completely stunned. Then he followed her slowly.

When he arrived in the dining room she had already squeezed herself in a seat between Ginny and Ron, so he sat down on the other side of the table. During dinner he tried to establish eye contact with her but she wouldn't look even anywhere near his way. Instead she talked animatedly to Ginny, it seemed a little forced though, her laughter a little too shrill.

After dinner she still avoided looking at him, as soon as he came near her she would disappear mysteriously. Bill was slowly getting fed up with her reaction, he preferred that she just told him to sod off instead of ignoring him completely.

When she went to the loo he followed her and waited outside. As soon as she left the bathroom he grabbed her and pulled her upstairs and into his old room. Hermione struggled and made her feelings on the matter quite clear.

Inside his room he turned to her and said: "Just shut up for a moment, will you?"

Hermione looked at him for a split second in surprise then her eyes turned to slits and Bill knew she would launch into another rant if he didn't stop her.

So he hastily continued: "Look can we just talk. I mean if you want me to leave you alone then that is fine I will respect your wishes. Just please tell me and stop ignoring me, I need to know where I stand."

"Well what do you expect? You write me a letter out of the blue after almost two years of not hearing from you and expect me to be free and come running back to you? I really cared for you, you jerk, but for you it was all a mistake. How could you play with my feelings like that, you must have known that I cared for you, I was not exactly subtle. And I was stupid enough to sleep with you, I was so naive, I should have known better. God I really thought that what we had was different, that I was not one of your tarts." Hermione slowly felt how that huge anger that she had carried around with her for over a year now, slowly started to leave her it felt relieving to tell him how much she had hurt from what had happened.

Bill hung his head in shame: "I know. I am truly sorry about what happened back then. I really enjoyed our friendship and you meant and still mean a lot to me Hermione, but back then I wasn't ready for more I was still hurting over Fleur."

"Fleur and you had broken up years before that, what took you so long to get over her?" Hermione felt jealousy slowly creeping up inside her. She knew she was not as stunning as Fleur, she was rather plain in the looks department, no guy would ever cry over her for years. And she knew she could never compare to the French half Veela.

"I idealised her and I was too scared to open up again and become vulnerable I didn't want to experience that kind of pain ever again." Bill answered honestly.

"And now you are over her and ready to open up again or what? Where does that come from? And maybe you are idealising me now, I mean we haven't had any contact in so long and then you suddenly write me some rubbish about seeing my face and me being the one you want to spend your life with. What if I am not the person you make me out to be? Will you make your excuses and leave again? How can I trust anything you tell me, I don't want to get hurt either you know?"

Standing in front of him, looking into his eyes and being absolutely open and honest about their feelings with each other for the first time, her tender feelings for him that she had buried deep within her started to come to the surface. She wanted to believe him, but she was scared. Scared to give him another chance and be hurt again and yet at the same time she wanted him to make her trust him.

So Bill started to tell her about how he met Fleur and how he realised she was not the woman he thought her to be and how he was finally able to move on. He told her about his affairs and about how that was not enough for him anymore. He also told her about the self-help book and about those questions and how he saw her when he thought about who he wanted by his side.

"Let's take things slow. I want to get this right this time. Let me take you on dates, so we can get reacquainted with each other. Please just give me this chance. If you still decide that you don't want me I will leave you alone, I promise." Bill looked at her pleadingly.

That didn't sound too bad. It sounded quite good actually in Hermione's opinion. That way she would be able to find out if he really had changed without getting in too deep, or so she hoped.

"I'd like that." Hermione said with a small smile.

Bill couldn't help the goofy grin that spread over his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: This is the final chapter of the story. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and read this story :)**

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**Chapter 5 This love**

We tend to think that life will be perfect if we just find Mr. or Mrs. Right. We yearn for the one who will love us no matter what, who understands us and makes us feel special every day for the rest of our lives. We will know instinctively if it is the right one - the one love that will last a lifetime. If it is the right one the butterflies in your stomach will stay and living together will always be easy and full of joy. Right? - Well, maybe if you are a character from a fairy tale.

Hermione and Bill had decided to take things slow and Bill got out of his way to take her out to romantic yet inventive dates. Bill also decided to take on different responsibilities in his job so that he didn't have to travel much anymore. It wasn't much of a sacrifice, he had enjoyed his travels but felt that he had different priorities now, namely Hermione and his family.

They got along wonderfully, they shared many of the same interests and everything seemed just so perfect. That feeling lasted for about six months, then the first quarrels started. It was nothing serious and their love for each other was still strong. So after being together for a little over a year, Bill finally proposed.

He took her to a picnic in the park. It was spring and the days slowly started to get warmer. After eating some homemade strawberry cake he gathered all his courage to finally pop the question. His nervousness surprised him a little, he was so sure that he wanted this and he was almost sure that she would say yes. Nevertheless, instead of the eloquent speech he had prepared in his head, all he could say in a shaky voice was: "Hermione will you be my wife?" She was sitting across from him and the seconds that it took her to process what he had just said, to her eyes widening and then a radiant smile to spread across her face until she finally wrapped her arms around him and said "yes" seemed to go by very slow.

Molly Weasley and Jean Granger both wept with joy when they were told the news. They instantly started to make plans for the wedding. It was when they teamed up and were thinking about hiring a harpist and that she should have eight bridesmaids and wanted to decorate the venue with real fairies and pink roses that they decided to elope. It took Molly and Jean months to forgive but everybody else was secretly relieved.

Being newlyweds gave their relationship a fresh spark. During the first year of their marriage they travelled as often as possible. Hermione hadn't seen much of the world so far, so Bill showed her some of his favourite places and they discovered some new ones together as well.

Close to their second anniversary they got an addition to their small family. Rose Ginevra was born and even though she was a fairly quiet child who would observe everything around her with huge brown eyes, she kept her parents busy for a while. Two years later Hugo Charlie was born. Hermione always said that if he had been the first born there wouldn't have been a second child. He was crying constantly it seemed.

They were busy with work, diapers, running noses, birthday parties and family reunions. So it wasn't until a few weeks after they had sent Hugo to Hogwarts for the first time and it was just the two of them in their house that they slowly realised that the passion in their relationship seemed to be gone. They both spend more and more time at work or separately with friends. It took them a while to become fully aware that everyday life had consumed their relationship and that they had drifted apart.

They tried to ignore it at first, thinking that it was normal and that it was not too bad after all. But they started to argue more and more and it took them longer to make up again. By the time Hugo was in his third and Rose in her fifth year in Hogwarts they decided to separate. They wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible.

They both went on a few awkward dates with other people but they soon came independently to the same conclusion. They expected their respective partners to act the way they were used to from each other. They remembered all the things that they cherished about the other person and they realised that the things that bothered them about each other like hair in the sink, or socks on the bedroom floor, her perfectionism or his temper were really small in comparison to how much they still did love each other. After all the love had never left or vanquished it was simply buried underneath all their duties, obligations and anger.

So after being secretly separated for three months they decided to give their relationship another go. Only this time a lot more aware that they wanted to be with each other and that in order to make it work they had to make an effort to not let other things distract them or seem more important all the time.

In the end that experience had brought them closer together. As did many other experiences good and bad, like when Hugo got seriously injured during a quidditch match, or when Rose graduated from Hogwarts top of her year, when they held their first grandchild in their arms, and then the second and third, or when they lost their parents one by one. But also the small everyday things brought them closer like being curled up on the couch together reading, going to a concert together or walking hand in hand. They would still fight and annoy each other but they knew that their love was stronger and worth protecting and fighting for.


End file.
